Ronin
Master Ronin (nicknamed the Master of Deception) was a ruthless and power-hungry warlord that appeared as a supporting antagonist in the movie special "Universal Convergence", and served as the main antagonist of "The Eclipse War" saga of the Roach Chronicles and the movie special "Balance and Order". He also makes a cameo appearance within the "Age of the Soulless" and "The Sentinel Trials" sagas. He was the ruler of the Goruxian Armada, and was the last of his entire species following the Aetherian War. Traumatized by the destruction of everything he once knew, Ronin sought to find a way to gain eternal life in an attempt to preserve himself as the last of his kind. Following The Visitor's attempt to destroy every universe in existence, Ronin utilized the fading Convergence to escape to the Eclipse Universe from his own universe upon seeking the answer he was looking for; the Matter Orb. With the Matter Orb, Ronin would be able to perform a ritual that would allow him to siphon the dark energies from the Dark Realm, granting him the eternal life he seeks. As part of his plan, Ronin began to tear apart the Eclipse Military and Navy through a brutal campaign with the help of his robotic forces found within the Goruxian flagship the Sanctorium, ultimately allowing him to procure the Matter Orb from within Vault Zero, a highly guarded facility located within Luna. However, despite his victory, he was confronted one last time by "Athena", Alain Bourden, Jack McMack, and Ben Crawford. Determined to destroy them once and for all, Ronin begins to absorb the dark power contained within the Matter Orb. However, after becoming enraged and absorbing too much darkness that he could handle, a rift to the Dark Realm was opened, with his soul begin pulled from his body and into the realm, condemning him to the eternal life he sought, but as a permanent fixture of the Dark Realm itself. While his soul became a part of the Dark Realm, Ronin's physical form overloaded with the sheer amount of darkness it contained within him, causing his body to melt down into pure darkness and reshape itself into the Cube of Darkness, which shortly escaped into the Dark Realm on its own. Unbeknownst to the Eclipse Universe heroes, this would allow the cube to eventually fall into the hands of the Prophets of the Soulless, who planned on using the cube's newfound powers over generating pure darkness from the Dark Realm to help them in their quest to resurrect Roach and Xarcoh as one entity. Wanting to escape his eternal torment, Ronin witnessed the Prophets of the Soulless opening a gateway to the Dark Realm in order to resurrect the Dark Soldier. Seeing this as a means of escape, Ronin was quick to escape his bonds and allowed his soul to rejoin what remained of his physical body in the Cube of Darkness after gaining enough strength to allow him to withstand the cube's raw power. Following the destruction of the Dark Soldier, Ronin remained in the cube until it was re-discovered by the US Government. The US Government then began to use the Cube of Darkness as a source of energy for creating experimental weaponry. During the creation of Project Pax, Ronin was able to communicate with the scientists, where he convinced them to drain his essence from the cube and place it in P.A.X. in order to power the A.I. body. Upon taking control of the body, Ronin slaughtered the scientists and escaped, where he utilized the Cube of Darkness to create an army of Cube Monsters with the goal of obtaining the Cortex for his upcoming Medusa weapon. During this new conflict, Ronin captured Amici, where he forced them into helping him acquire the Cortex from Ball's Pyramid in Australia. Returning back to his base in Shop 8, Ronin was able to insert the Cortex into the Medusa weapon and began charging it. However, he was engaged in a final battle with Amici atop Shop 8. During the battle, he inserted the Cube of Darkness into himself in order to gain power, only for Rick Peterson to stab him in the back with a machete. As Ronin was destroyed along with the Cube of Darkness due to the damage the cube suffered from Rick's attack, his Medusa weapon activated, successfully eliminating 75% of all life on Earth. History Aetherian War During the Goruxians' quest for universal domination, Master Ronin sent The Visitor to attack the Aether in preparation for war. However, the Aetherians soon caught on to Ronin's plan and imprisoned The Visitor in a comet made of pure Unistone, which was soon launched into the depths of space. Furious, Ronin ordered a massive blitzkrieg on the Aether, despite not having the resources to launch a full force attack. As the war raged on, the Goruxians soon became overwhelmed by the Aetherians, who began to slaughter the army and any surrendering soldiers. Knowing the war was lost, Ronin ordered a full retreat, but found himself the only survivor of the retreat. Ronin would soon go into hiding on his homeworld, which soon found itself under siege by the Aetherians. While attempting to escape with his family, the Aetherians invaded, and Ronin would witness his entire family being slaughtered cold blood. In the end, Sparvis IX was decimated, and was turned into a barren wasteland. For over a century, Ronin remained on his dying homeworld, formulating a new plan to enact revenge on the Aetherians while also abandoning his goal of protecting his occupied planets. Universal Convergence Years later, The Visitor, who was freed from his imprisonment, would soon discover his dying homeworld in a state of disrepair. Horrified, The Visitor questions what had happened to his people before discovering Ronin in the remains of his palace. Ronin tells The Visitor that following the conclusion of the Aetherian War and his disappearance, the Goruxian Armada fell to the Aetherians, slaughtering the Goruxians and forcing Ronin to flee, where he remained in hiding for over a century. The Visitor assures Ronin that despite the extinction of their kind, he could still end all of reality, informing his master of the forced Convergence he was able to create with the Dark Scepter. Ronin tells The Visitor that his own raw strength and the Dark Scepter won't be enough, saying that he needs to forge a weapon capable of doing the job more effectively. Ronin soon tells The Visitor that during a Convergence, a passage to the legendary realm of Uriqar will be opened, explaining to his subordinate that the forges of Uriqar, as well as the materials he has, will be enough to forge a weapon that will be able to destroy every universe linked in the Convergence. While The Visitor left for Uriqar, Ronin would find the Sanctorium, the Goruxian flagship, hidden deep within an underground bunker. Within the ship was a small force of armored security drones, as well as powerful impulse cannons built into the ship. Ronin soon saw this as an opportunity to escape to another universe in search of the Matter Orb, a powerful relic that would be capable of granting him eternal life through the energies of the Dark Realm. Using the Convergence, Ronin, as well as his forces, soon used the Sanctorium to escape from Sparvis IX and to another universe. While "Athena", Alain Bourden, Jack McMack, and Ben Crawford began to settle down back on the Eclipse Military's Oracle space station in their universe, the Sanctorium soon loomed over the space station as the ship's impulse cannons prepared to engage. The Eclipse War Incursion As the impulse cannons crippled the Oracle space station defenses and power grid, Master Ronin and some of his drones boarded the station, executing some of the survivors who were unable to escape the station. Soon, some of Ronin's forces discovered a secret testing lab dedicated to experimenting with weaponized Hybrillium. Seizing some of the Hybrillium samples, Ronin begins to monologue over the remaining survivors, including "Athena", Alain, Jack, and Ben. Ronin tells the survivors that today marked the end of their kind, saying that their inevitable reincarnation would ultimately spare them from the pain and suffering inflicted in the attack. Not long afterwards, a drone returns to Ronin, informing his master that they've collected the data regarding the location of the blacksite and the vault, but explains that they need another ship to get close to the vault if they are to succeed. Satisfied, Ronin orders his forces to prepare to leave. As Ronin and his forces began to leave the station, Ronin orders for the Hybrillium testing lab to be scuttled. As the lab was destroyed, the Hybrillium samples within the lab soon began to spread around the ship and contaminated it, infecting the corpses of the dead survivors and transforming them into zombies. Laughing over his victory, Ronin and his forces soon escaped within the Sanctorium, leaving the Oracle space station to eventually be destroyed. Depot 431 The next day, Ronin raided the Ravenclaw Blacksite on Europa, which was still under use by high ranking scientists and soldiers of the Eclipse Military. There, he secured most of the super soldier serum shipments within the storage hall and stole a vast arsenal of experimental Hybrillium weapons for his upcoming warship armada. While leaving, Ronin unleashed the experimental Super Zombie within the station in hopes of destroying any evidence of his presence at the blacksite. When the heroes soon arrived at the station themselves a couple days after Ronin's raid, they used the security footage found within the base to learn a major part of Ronin's master plan, as well as where he was heading; the Red Tern shipyard. Sure enough, a distress call is sent out from Red Tern, informing the Eclipse Military command that the shipyard was under attack by Ronin's warship. Knowing he was there, the heroes proceed to the shipyard with a Razorback transport vehicle after dealing with the Super Zombie in the facility's hangar. Red Tern Unbeknownst to the heroes and the entire Eclipse Military, Master Ronin and his forces were already one step ahead of them. While the heroes were at Depot 431 at the Ravenclaw Blacksite after surviving the destruction of the Oracle space station, Ronin and his forces attacked the Red Tern shipyard on Thalia, where he forced the workers at the shipyard to create dozens of replicas of the ships of the Eclipse Navy that would respond to a priority distress signal, such as heavy frigates, starfighter carriers, and an Eclipse-class assault carrier. Once the work was done, Ronin and his forces slaughtered much of the workers at the shipyard and began using his Hybrillium samples to turn the dead corpses into zombies. Ronin soon hijacked the shipyard's communication hub, where he broadcasted his own distress signal, one that would draw the attention of some of the ships stationed at Luna to the Red Tern shipyard, allowing Ronin's replica ships to return to Luna, posing as the ships sent out to respond to the distress call. With the deed done, Ronin and most of his forces used the replica ships to flee the shipyard, departing for Luna, where his master plan would unfold, while the rest of his forces and his flagship the Sanctorium remained at the shipyard in order to draw out the attention of the responding Eclipse Navy. After the Eclipse Navy was able to retake the shipyard, the Sanctorium escaped the area with a cloaking system after engaging the fleet. However, the heroes were able to stow away onboard the ship, where they discover that they ship was abandoned and set to autopilot, with the coordinates set to Luna, the Eclipse Military fortress world. With this knowledge, the team realizes that Ronin is already inbound for Luna and is most likely already there. Vault Zero True to their suspicions, Master Ronin was indeed at Luna. Using the puppet ships he acquired from Red Tern, Ronin was able to bypass the Luna Defense Fleet's no-go zone and get close to Luna. There, he had his ship dock at a small loading dock outside a secondary entrance into Vault Zero before ordering his puppet ships to engage the rest of the fleet, which would enable a diversion for him. As a massive fight ensued, Ronin unleashed his Hybrillium samples into the base, infecting it and ultimately allowing him easy access into the nerve center, where he was able to use the technology he acquired from the Ravenclaw Blacksite to deactivate Luna's surface defenses, allowing his ships to destroy them and allowing them to continue their diversion in attacking the fleet. Ronin is soon able to gain access into the vault and begins his search for the Matter Orb with his robotic forces he recently ordered to assist him. However, he is soon confronted by "Athena", Alain, Jack, and Ben, who uncovered his plans and stowed away on the Sanctorium. Unfazed by their untimely arrival, Ronin orders his forces to engage them while he continues his search for the Matter Orb. After the team is able to destroy all of Ronin's forces, they are ultimately too late to stop Ronin from discovering the Matter Orb. Taking possession of the relic, Ronin monologues to the team, telling them that he seeks to use the Matter Orb to tap into the Dark Realm and obtain immortality and unimaginable power, which would enable him to assume control over the galaxy and eventually all universes in existence. Suddenly, the Eclipse Navy is able to regain control over the facility and begins to launch a lockdown protocol in order to trap the undead within the facility. Knowing it was time to make his move, Ronin uses the Matter Orb to send out a shockwave of dark energy, knocking the heroes down while Ronin escapes from the vault and heads back to the Sanctorium. Knowing they have to stop Ronin, the team hurries back to the transport ship they acquired from the Sanctorium and uses it to head towards the ship. As they approach the Sanctorium, Ronin is able to board his ship and prepares to takeoff for places unknown. However, the team is able to reach the ship in time, where they soon return to the ship's launch bay just before the final doors close. Immediately after entering the ship, the Sanctorium blasts away from Luna as Ronin's puppet ships are eventually destroyed by the Luna Defense Fleet and arriving reinforcements. Sanctum of Blood Upon discovering that he was boarded by the heroes, Master Ronin soon gets onto the ship's intercom, telling the team that their efforts were all but futile, saying that the Matter Orb's power will soon be unleashed. Alain tells Ronin that he has no idea what he would unleash, saying that the Matter Orb's raw powers were too strong for him to handle, explaining that there would be dire consequences if he was to absorb too much of the relic's power. Ronin simply scoffs at Alain, telling him that he has been waiting for his chance to avenge his people for over a century, telling the heroes that he would not hold out on stopping the team before turning off the intercom. Ronin soon unleashes the last of his Hybrillium onto the ship, reawakening several deceased corpses kept within the ship as part of a last-ditch plan to stop the heroes. While the heroes fought through the ship and attempted to find a way to get the ship's cargo elevator to reach the bridge, Ronin began to slowly unlock the Matter Orb's power. Unfortunately for Ronin, the team is able to bypass Ronin's encryption on the elevator's controls and finally confronts him on the bridge, who was nearly finished with fully unlocking the Matter Orb's power. Furious over their constant interference with his plan, Ronin declares that the heroes were all but too late; Ronin grabs ahold of the Matter Orb and begins to absorb some of the relic's dark power directly into his body. After letting out a scream of pain, Ronin soon regains his bearings, telling the team that their long journey ends. As the team fights Ronin, Alain desperately tries to persuade Ronin to stop using the Matter Orb, saying that too much exposure to its darkness could potentially be deadly. Ignoring his warnings, Ronin continues to absorb more and more power after each phase. Knowing what has to be done, the team begins to taunt Ronin, infuriating him even more. Determined to destroy the heroes once and for all, Ronin grabs the Matter Orb and smashes it onto the ground, where he soon absorbs the remaining darkness from the ruins of the relic. Suddenly, Ronin collapses onto the ground, with Alain ordering a cease fire. As Ronin shivers in pain, he questions what was happening to him as parts of his body began to glow bright purple. Alain tells the defeated warlord that it was the immortality that he sought, but it would come at a terrible price. Suddenly, a rift to the Dark Realm opens in the bridge, which catches Ronin's attention as he begins to uncontrollably babble a strange language. Suddenly, his soul begins to leave his body, unable to sustain the sheer amount of overloading darkness building up within him. As Ronin lets out one last scream of horror, his soul splits apart from his body and enters the rift to the Dark Realm, condemning him to eternal life as part of the Dark Realm itself. With Ronin's soul gone, his body soon melts away into pure darkness, eventually morphing into a small glowing purple cube with strange runes on it. As the team looks at the cube in curiosity, the cube suddenly levitates from the ground and soon launches itself into the rift, causing the rift to immediately disperse into nothingness soon after, ultimately putting an end to Ronin's bloody campaign upon the Eclipse Universe. Age of the Soulless Forgotten Past Master Ronin is seen in a vision created by The Librarian in order to show SEAL Team Five of the recent events in the Eclipse Universe leading up to the creation of the Cube of Darkness. Darkness Rises Wishing to escape his fate as part of the Dark Realm for all eternity, Ronin sought to find a way to escape. Meanwhile, Echthroi and the Prophets of the Soulless were in the middle of opening a gateway to the Dark Realm in order to begin the process of resurrecting the Dark Soldier. After Echthroi releases the souls of Roach and Xarcoh from the Soul Jar, they enter the portal, catching the attention of Ronin. Seizing the opportunity to escape, Ronin immediately exited the Dark Realm through the portal in the form of a purple lighting bolt, striking the Cube of Darkness on the ground below, allowing his soul to reunite with what remained of his body within the cube. The Dark Soldier Following the destruction of the Dark Soldier and SEAL Team Five, the Cube of Darkness was able to survive the explosion, having been thrown under some rubble of what remained of the Chamber of Darkness. As it began to pulse and flash once again, the faint laugh of Master Ronin could be heard from within the cube. Trivia * Ronin, despite his fate, is one of the few antagonists in the Roach Chronicles to have successfully completed their goal, the others are Gruntijackal (Rebirth of Gruntjackal), Omnitron (The War Machine), Ataraxia (in an alternate non-canon ending of The Greatest Threat of All), and Nictis (Eternal Despair). ** Ronin is also the only villain to have completed his main goal twice, the first being during The Eclipse War, and the second during Balance and Order. * Ronin is one of the most encountered villains, having made an appearance in a total of five different sagas. Category:Universal Convergence Category:The Eclipse War Category:Age of the Soulless Category:Balance and Order Category:The Sentinel Trials Category:Boss Rush